The present application is a divisional of Ser. No. 10/678,924, filed Oct. 3, 2003, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,913,554, and claims benefit of said parent application pursuant to 35 U.S.C. Section 120.
The methods and systems of the present invention are directed to the modification and improvement of transmissions for automotive vehicles, more commonly referred to as “factory installed” transmissions, installed in an automotive vehicle by an original motor vehicle manufacturer. The invention is more particularly directed to improvements to the “factory installed” transmission identified as the ALLISON TRANSMISSION (Series 1000/2000/2400) installed in vehicles manufactured by General Motors Corporation of Detroit, Mich.
The present inventor owns the following United States patents, the disclosures of which are expressly incorporated by reference into the present application: U.S. Pat. No. 4,449,426, issued May 26, 1984; U.S. Pat. No. 4,711,140, issued Dec. 8, 1987; U.S. Pat. No. 4,790,938, issued Dec. 13, 1988; U.S. Pat. No. 5,253,549, issued Oct. 19, 1993; U.S. Pat. No. 5,540,628, issued Jul. 30, 1996; U.S. Pat. No. 5,624,342, issued Apr. 29, 1997; U.S. Pat. No. 5,730,685, issued Mar. 24, 1998; U.S. Pat. No. 5,743,823, issued Apr. 28, 1998; U.S. Pat. No. 5,768,953, issued Jun. 23, 1998; U.S. Pat. No. 5,820,507, issued Oct. 7, 1998; U.S. Pat. No. 5,967,928, issued Oct. 19, 1999; U.S. Pat. No. 6,099,429, issued Aug. 8, 2000; U.S. Pat. No. 6,117,047, issued Sep. 12, 2000; U.S. Pat. No. 6,287,231, issued Sep. 11, 2001; U.S. Pat. No. 6,390,944, issued May 21, 2002; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,565,472, issued May 20, 2003.
Applicant also owns the following pending patent applications, the disclosures of each being expressly incorporated by reference into the present application: Ser. No. 10/348,846, filed Jan. 22, 2003; Ser. No. 10/360,576, filed Feb. 7, 2003; Ser. No. 10/081,605, filed Feb. 21, 2002; and Ser. No. 10/105,674, filed Mar. 25, 2002.
A publication entitled “Allison Transmission, Principles of Operation—1000/2000/2400 Series, On-Highway Transmissions, published by General Motors Corporation, Copyright 1999, discloses the “factory installed” Allison automotive transmission. This publication is expressly incorporated by reference, in its entirety, into the disclosure of the present application, as disclosing the components and operation of the “factory installed” Allison automotive transmission.
It is the primary object of the present invention to modify the “factory installed” ALLISON TRANSMISSION to improve the overall operation and efficiency of this factory installed automotive transmission. The modifications to the “factory installed” transmission, as more fully described herein, include modifications to both structural components and hydraulic circuitry resulting in increased line pressure during lockup, increased pressure applied to the clutches to increase the torque held by the clutches thereby reducing clutch slippage, and modification to the A and B trim valves to increase or otherwise adjust pressure applied to the clutches.
Other objects and advantages of the modifications to the “factory installed” automotive transmission in accordance with the present invention will become apparent from the following description in conjunction with the drawings.